Traditionally ownership was important. Most people bought everything they needed and used it as long as possible to get maximum value for their money. But, as you will see in this article, consumer habits are beginning to change rapidly. According to market research by ‘Consumer-Insight,’ the ratio of ‘First Car Purchase’ to total vehicle purchase was 16 percent in 2012, but it decreased to 11 percent in 2019. This means consumers who choose to borrow rather than purchase products are on the increase. This is because of shared services like car-sharing etc has become a viable and attractive option. The phenomena of shared services can be described as ‘Streaming Service’, and people who enjoy these services can be described as ‘consumers who enjoy Streaming Life.’ Trend Korea 2020 identified this consumption preference, and it selected ‘Streaming Life’ as a significant keyword of this year’s consumption trend.

  ‘Streaming Life’ is a term combining ‘Streaming’ and ‘Life’ Streaming  refers to a well-known technology that plays music or video files in real-time using data communication, while ‘Life’ refers to the way an individual prefers to live. It is named ‘Streaming Life’ because the consumers don’t purchase things they want but rent or borrow them instead. This is like streaming music or video files instead of downloading them. Examples of streaming services include subscription, membership, shared services, etc. Consumers who enjoy Streaming Life consider getting various experiences by having access to a variety of products as important.
  It was easy to find examples of Streaming Life, as it was an important consumption trend this year. ‘Moving to Jeju’ was popular 3 years ago, but lately the trend subsided considerably. People who moved to Jeju couldn’t find a job, the land prices shot up, and the unique community spirit in Jeju bothered them, so it was near impossible for outsiders to settle in Jeju. Instead of moving to Jeju, ‘Living in Jeju for a month’ is popular these days. At this time, ‘Living in Jeju for a month’ can be seen as the representative example of Streaming Life. Oh Se-yon (’18 Dept. of Mathematics Education, Hongik Univ.) said, “I am going to live in Jeju during September with my mother. I saw lots of people on TV who move to Jeju for healing but turn back because of money. Seeing such people, I thought Living in Jeju was economically impossible. However, I discovered that there are month-long rental accommodations, so my mother and I decided to live in Jeju for a month to have unusual experiences.” She represents a typical consumer who enjoys Streaming Life through this opportunity. The consumers chose ‘Living in Jeju for a month’ which is a Streaming service rather than ‘Moving to Jeju’ which is a traditional consumption method.
  Retailers swiftly caught on to this and quickly incorporated it into their marketing strategy focusing on ‘Jip-Kok people’ who spend the majority of their time at home without engaging in outdoor activities because of COVID-19. The number of people who fall into this category has increased rapidly, so they started a rental service lending household appliances on April 16th, 2020. For example, GS 25 offers 14 kinds of home appliances, including TVs, laptops, air purifiers, etc. at very affordable rates. In addition, GS 25 provides a flower subscription service where consumers receive flowers of their choice every 2 weeks. There is also a car rental service, and car care service where car experts set up vehicle supplies and maintain the vehicle including the interior.

  Jeon Sang-min, a professor of the Dept. of Consumer Science at CBNU,  identified two reasons why Streaming Life appeared. She said the first cause is economical reasons via the development of technology.  Through the application of technology an algorithm appeared  based on the online data (i.e. preferences, likes, and recommendations) of consumers. The professor said “As the algorithm became active, the consumers can have a chance to use products and services that they want at low prices and for less time. Also, the consumers realize that they don’t have enough money to buy everything they want, and they don’t have adequate and suitable space to keep the products. The consumers started to show a tendency not to own everything they want, and based on this, Streaming Life appeared.”
  Another reason is that the happiness of experience is bigger than the happiness of possession. She explained, “Today, there are so many products and so much information. Thus, new products purchased today quickly become old. When we buy fashionable products, we’ll feel good at first but we will soon make a comparison with new products. However, happiness from experience is bigger than the happiness from purchasing because the experience is simply incomparable to anything else.” Streaming Life based on these reasons is growing steadily as the consumption trend of this year.

By Ahn Min-joo
mj40@cbnu.ac.kr